Come Here Often?
by Die Flow
Summary: Fourth in my AU Chronicles series, takes up where Independence Day left off.
1. CHOPrologue

CHOPrologue

Jon, Rose, and Jack had gone back in time in Lourdes, the young TARDIS, and had slipped through one of the cracks between the universes at the time of the Dalek Crucible. Their mission was to procure technology needed to create Looms, return Jack to his proper universe, and of course to visit the Doctor. Once through the crack, they traveled forward in time and found his TARDIS was in a huge vault on a Dalek ship, with an injured companion aboard. Lourdes materialized next to her mother, appearing as a support pillar in the huge vault.

"How are there _still_ Daleks?" The three of them were gobsmacked.

"No matter, we've got to get into the Doctor's TARDIS and talk to that companion!" Jon bounded down the ramp and out the doors, Jack and Rose hot on his heels. Running up to his old TARDIS, Jon snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He tried the doors, but they remained locked shut.

"She's a little suspicious of you. Let me try," Rose suggested. She took the key she always kept with her, and tried the lock. It opened. They gasped as they looked in.

"Done some redecorating I see," breathed Jon. Jack let out a low whistle, while Rose stroked the door affectionately.

"You're beautiful!"

"Right then. Let's get in there and help." They walked quickly up to the console and looked about.

"Hello, we're here to help! Hello!" Jon called. They heard a groan below them. Running around the console, looking through the floor, they found a man curled up in one of the round holes in the floor. Jumping down, Jack and Jon pulled the injured man out of the hole as gently as they could, but unfortunately not without eliciting screams of pain from him. They saw a charred hole in his shirt. Looking under it, there was a gaping hole in his side, but it was not bleeding. Jon took charge.

"He's been hit with a Dalek weapon, good thing for him it was just a glancing hit, it looks like it cauterized the wound. Let's get him to the med bay. Where is it now, old girl?" A light above a short set of steps started blinking, they carried him up the steps and into a corridor and found the med bay doors immediately to the right and opened as if waiting for them.

As Jon and Jack laid the man down on the examining table, Rose grabbed a pair of scissors from a tray of instruments and started cutting his clothing away while Jon opened a cupboard and found a sprayer full of local anesthetic. Jack helped Rose roll the man onto his good side and Jon carefully sprayed the anesthetic onto the wound. This elicited a groan of relief from the man.

"There now, that's a little bit better I should expect." Jon said to the man, putting the sprayer down and hunching down to look the man in the eye. "Yeah?" He asked. The man nodded mutely and licked his lips. "Rose, please get our friend a drink of water." Rose turned around and opened what looked to be a cooler and was rewarded with a bottle of water. Opening it, she handed it to Jon who gently cradled the man's head and helped him take a drink. "Easy there, that's it, slowly. Don't want to choke now, do we?" Jon soothed. The man shook his head, indicating he wanted no more, and Jon laid the man's head back on the pillow and set the bottle down on the counter. "Can you talk?"

"Yes," the man croaked, "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor."


	2. CHO Chapter 1

CHOChapter1

The man blinked and shook his head. "How can _you_ be the Doctor?"

"Well, good question, that. I am the Doctor, or at least I used to be him, still am him in the other universe, but here I suppose I'm just 'Jon'. Wouldn't do to call me Doctor, might confuse things a bit, you know... what's that?" The man was gesturing for him to quiet.

"You can't be him... but he needs help. There's no time... the Daleks have him and Amy and River..." He looked almost ready to pass out. Jon grabbed something out of a drawer and waved it under the man's nose. His eyes opened wide and he started.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but you can't pass out just yet, you need to tell me what's going on. How did the Daleks get you?"

"It was a trap. He was responding to an S.O.S. and the TARDIS got grabbed by some kind of tractor beam or something and we wound up on this ship."

"What is the Daleks' plan, do you know?"

"They're going to destroy Earth and make him watch. Then they're gonna kill us, his companions, then him."

"HAH! That's their weakness then. We'll just have to exploit it. First we need to fix you up, though. Rose hand me that tissue regenerator, would you?"

"Um... what exactly is their weakness that we're going to exploit?" Jack asked, thinking maybe he missed something.

"Simple - ME!" Jon flashed a maniacal grin. "The Daleks could have killed me oh, soo many times but they never succeed. You know why?" He didn't wait for an answer, but plunged on ahead while Jack and Rose exchanged amused glances. "Because they always have to draw it out instead of just getting it done. They want to make me suffer, and they wind up giving me the very chance I need. HAH! Now," he said to the man, "This is going to hurt a bit. I'm going to rebuild your side." With that he began working.

The man gritted his teeth in pain. Rose tried to distract him. She took his hand and smiled, and asked, "What's your name, luv?"

"_Rory_." The man grunted.

"Oh what a great name, Rory. Makes you sound fierce and proud, but I bet you're really just a big pussycat, aren't you?" Rory grunted non-committingly as Rose stroked his brow with her free hand. "My name is Rose, and this gentleman over here is Jack." Jack gave a little wave. Rose noted the wedding band on Rory's finger. "So this Amy, is she your wife?" Rory nodded. "I'll bet she's pretty. Good thing she's taken, otherwise I'd have to warn you about Jack." Rory's eyes darted over Jack's way.

"Rose," Jon growled, "Distracting Rory is wonderful, scaring him is not!" He snapped the tissue regenerator closed. "Done. You're still healing, but now you actually have something there _to_ heal, instead of a big hole. Your ribs are going to be awfully sore for awhile. You need to take it easy."

Rory sat up. "I _can't_ take it easy, I need to rescue my wife!"

"Of course your wife needs rescued, but you can't do it, we will. Now lie back!" Jon ordered.

"_NO!_" Rory roared.

"_YES!_" Jon insisted, and pressed a hypo to Rory's neck. Rory fell back with a whimper, and passed out. "That's better." Jon placed a bandage on Rory's side, then turned to Jack. "Now, the first thing we need to do is to disable that tractor beam. No point in freeing the prisoners if they can't go anywhere."

"I'm on it." Jack replied, turning on his heel and heading back to the corridor. "TARDIS, where is the armory now?" he asked.

Rose and Jon returned to the console room. "Right, then. Rose, I need you to locate the prisoners and find out how heavily they're guarded and if any of them are injured." Rose went to one of the console stations and started to work.

"Here we go, Jon, the TARDIS brought up the schematics of the Dalek ship." Jon hurried over and they both studied the screen, noting the two nice, big green X's marking the positions of their TARDISes, and watching the red dots moving about.

"Those would be the Daleks," Jon mused, "uh-oh, what have we here?" He pointed to what appeared to be stacks upon stacks of cannisters. He paled. "Those are hundreds of thousands of Daleks, apparently powered down for storage." A shiver went through him.

"What are you going to do?" Jack asked him. He had returned after arming himself.

"I don't know yet." Jon answered without looking up from the screen. "But we have got to destroy this ship." Rose pointed to a small area where there were three green circles surrounded by several of the red dots.

"I'll bet that's them," she said. "But how to get to them?" She highlighted the circles and tapped on the keyboard and their vital signs came up at the bottom of the screen. "Well, they're stressed out but otherwise healthy," she observed.

"Good. I expect they'll stay that way for awhile. So far this ship hasn't moved to attack Earth. I wonder what they're waiting for?" As if on cue, they felt a jolt.

"That would be the ship starting to move. Time to get going." Jack announced. Jon looked up at him and frowned.

"Jack, what is that you're wearing?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd be able to tell me. It looks like might be good for something or other." The garment in question was a shiny, silvery black jumpsuit with lots of wiring. Jack showed him a small control panel that was wired to the left sleeve. Jon flicked a switch on it and was suddenly looking at himself.

"_Brilliant!_ It's a telepathic holo-emitter!" Jack looked at himself in disbelief. "I look like you - but I still sound like myself." he said with a frown.

"Hmmm... that gives me an idea. I'll rig up a voice modulator for you. Back in a flash!" Jon took off back down the corridor. Jack returned to the console.

"Let's see if we can get a good look at the enemy," he murmured, punching a button. A panel on the console opened and a small silver sphere with wings and a lens floated up out of it. It took off for the doors, which opened and let it out. It transmitted its recording to the monitor. "OK, let's go to the central control center." Jack instructed it, and it flew silently along the passageways, hugging the ceiling. It arrived in an enormous room, where a white Dalek seemed to reign above the others.

"Look at the different colors," Rose pointed out. "They seem to have some significance."

"Yeah they do," Jack agreed. Both of them studied the monitor intently.

"EXTERMINATE!" Both Jack and Rose nearly jumped out of their skins as they wheeled around to face Jon wearing the voice modulator and grinning. Jack called Jon some very choice names before grabbing the tool and putting it on himself. Then turning to stare intently at the white Dalek he flicked the switch in the control panel on his sleeve. Almost instantly he took on the appearance of the white Dalek.

"Now remember not to move too smoothly," Jon instructed. Jack jerked around, mimicing the Daleks' movements well.

"YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" he said to them. Jon and Rose nodded approvingly. Jack switched the suit off.

"You'll do." Jon said approvingly. "Now, where is the control center, and any peripheral consoles where we can discreetly hack into it?" They traced the conduit paths out from the central control center and couldn't help but notice that there was a console near the prisoners.

"Perfect! OK, here's the plan," Jon laid out exactly what each of them was to do.


	3. CHO Chapter 2

CHOChapter2

The Doctor knew that they would get out of this. He knew that River's fateful meeting with his younger self at the Library was approaching. Irritating, really, the way he kept meeting her out of order. But regardless, since he knew she would get out of this situation, it stood to reason they all three would. He was a bit worried about Rory, though. He knew the Dalek had clipped him. He'd kept running, though, so it couldn't have damaged him too much. Amy was nearly hysterical with worry, however, shifting her weight from one foot to the other in frustration. Every so often she touched the force field holding her prisoner and cursed when it shocked her.

In contrast, River was serenely unflappable as she sat crosslegged inside her field. "I'm not worried, Sweetie, I know you'll find a way to get us out of this," she said in that supremely confident way she had.

"_Now_ would be a good time!" Amy said through clenched teeth.

The Doctor stood silent, arms crossed, eyes closed, thinking. There had to have been something he missed. Suddenly he inhaled sharply and his eyes flew open and he glanced at his companions to see if they had felt it. Well, of course they hadn't, they weren't Time Lords. But he was, and he had. Two other presences in the back of his mind, in that sad, lonely place where he hadn't felt that sensation since he took Donna's memories away. How could there be Time Lords here? Future versions of himself, possibly, working together? He hadn't done anything that crazy in a long time. There was always the possibility that someone had escaped the Time War and had been in hiding, that had to be it, what else could it be? He prayed they wouldn't be detected, and his prayer seemed to be answered, no alarms went off that he could hear or see, and the Daleks keeping watch on them stood still and silent. He wished he could reach out to these Time Lords with his mind, but to do that he needed to know their true names, and he didn't. So he would just have to wait. Feeling the ship move, he knew their time was running out and he prayed again to whatever deity might be out there to hurry these new Time Lords along. If he could feel them, then they could feel him, so surely they'd come looking.

After nearly an hour had gone by, the door to the chamber they were being held in opened and the White Dalek rolled in. The Doctor's hearts sank. Addressing their guards, it said, "LEAVE US AT ONCE. I WISH TO SPEAK TO THE DOCTOR ALONE."

One of the guards rolled a foot or so toward the White and asked, "SHALL WE REMAIN OUTSIDE THE DOOR?"

The White replied, "NO, YOU ARE DISMISSED. GO BACK TO YOUR REGULAR DUTIES."

The guards left, leaving the White facing the prisoners. The Doctor sneered at it, "What, going to finish us off ahead of schedule?"

"NO, I AM WAITING FOR MY CUE." It replied. Then it rolled up to Amy. "YOU MUST BE AMY. YOUR HUSBAND IS FINE." Amy stared at it in shock, not knowing what to say. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. His fellow Time Lords must have managed to hack into the Daleks' base code, he thought. They must be taking them over. Brilliant idea!

It rolled over to where River sat. "HELLO, BEAUTIFUL, COME HERE OFTEN?" River chuckled and the Doctor now thought perhaps they had corrupted the power supply and the Daleks were essentially becoming drunk. White then rolled over to where the Doctor stood.

"WHAT, DO YOU GET YOUNGER EVERY TIME? I AM JEALOUS."

Realisation started dawning on the Doctor, and he put a hand to his mouth, shaking his head and saying, "No, no, no, it can't be..."

"ALONSO SENDS HIS REGARDS."

"_JACK ! HAH!" _ The Doctor yelled jubilantly and looked around, still not quite realising exactly what was happening, and yelled up toward the ceiliing, "Wherever you are, Jack Harkness, I LOVE YOU!" Suddenly the ship rocked with what felt like an explosion.

"THAT WOULD BE MY CUE." Jack switched the suit off and ran for the console. Hastily flipping switches, he shut down the tractor beam and found the ones for the force fields and powered them down, too. Seconds later a familiar _whooshing_ sound was heard and the Doctor's TARDIS materialized. More eruptions shook the ship and Jack yelled "Everybody get on board _now!_" The Doctor reached for his key as they ran for the ship and Jack said, "Forget that, just snap your fingers, dammit!" The Doctor gave him a sharp look and did exactly that, the doors swung open and they all scrambled aboard.

"Everyone accounted for?" Jack asked Jon, who was piloting the TARDIS.

"Yep-p!" Jon affirmed, releasing the brake, and the TARDIS dematerialized into the vortex as the Dalek ship exploded around them. After their flight smoothed out, he added, "Rose already left in Lourdes and Rory's in the med bay, sleeping like a baby." At this Amy ran back to see her husband.

"Excuse me, if you don't mind my asking, exactly who are you?" River asked Jon.

Jon grinned at her. "Ah, River Song." He wiggled his eyebrows at her look of consternation at how he knew her name. "I'm the Doctor – _his_ younger self. He's Eleven," he said pointing at the other Doctor, "I'm Ten – or maybe Ten-Point-Five, depending on how you look at it. I grew from his hand – just call me Handy, love the hand!" He chortled, winking at Eleven and giving a little wave with it.

"So, Handy Andy, what's with the beard?" The Doctor wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"Oi, Spaceman, Rose happens to love this beard!" Jon snorted, stroking his close-cropped whiskers. "Look at that bow tie – guess I'm losing my sense of style as I get old!"

"Bow ties are cool!" the Doctor retorted as he self-consciously straightened it.

"Well I think you're both pretty darned cute – and Doc, as I recall, you said you loved me back there. Got any champagne on this boat? I think this calls for a celebration!" Jack sidled up to the Doctor and put his arm around him and the Doctor wriggled away and ran to the other side of the console.

"She's not a boat, she's a ship, my feelings for you are strictly platonic, yes, I do have champagne, but not for you, and don't call me Doc!" The Doctor tried to glare at Jack, not entirely successfully. He started fiddling with the controls. "Where are we going?" he asked Jon. "I assume we'll be meeting Rose somewhere?"

"Yep-p, Barcelona!" beamed Jon. "We always wanted to take her to Barcelona and never got around to it, so now we are."

"_We_?" The Doctor asked.

"Well why not, Sweetie? I think it's a great idea! Now I can get to know you even better!" River walked over to Jon and snuggled into him, and Jon said, "Hello!" and snuggled right back. This was too much for the Doctor.

"Right, you two, stop!" He strode over to Jon as River stage-whispered wickedly in his ear,

"He's _so_ jealous of me!"

"I am not!" The Doctor insisted as he took Jon by the arm with a steely grip and started pulling him toward the corridor leading to his study. "We need to talk – _privately!_" Jon looked back and winked conspiratorily at River as he was led away.

"So, the Doctor is jealous of you. Are you two together, then? Oh, by the way, I'm Captain Jack Harkness, at your service, ma'am." Jack bowed, then walked over and took River's hand, kissing it.

"Charmed, I'm sure. I've always wanted to meet you. I'm River."

"So, River, tell me about this new Doctor."

The Doctor and Jon sat down together on the Doctor's overstuffed couch. "OK, first things first, I'm sensing two Time Lords, you're one of them, how is that possible? Last I saw you, you were half human!" the Doctor demanded.

"Simple." Jon smiled. "Krillitane oil. It seems the Krillitanes aren't the only species who can use it, 'if ' you know how it works."

"So you used Krillitane oil on yourself and made yourself a full Time Lord again?" The Doctor accused him. He felt betrayed somehow. He had meant for Jon and Rose to settle down and have the life he never could, and it seemed to him that Jon had thrown it all away for immortality.

"Yep-p! Well, not exactly fully, I had very little time and so I deliberately left out the genes that enable me to change my face."

"So when you regenerate, you won't change?" The Doctor was trying to be cross, but this was _sooo_ intriguing!

"No, I didn't." Jon confirmed. "I unfortunately had to test it immediately. Thank Rassilon it worked, or I wouldn't be here right now, Rose would be trying to solve the Skasis Paradigm for a bunch of renegade Krills, and Arianna would be searching for _you_ all by herself."

The Doctor let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "And Rose?" he asked softly. "Is she...?"

Jon nodded. "Seemed the right thing to do, so we could have our 'forever'. Good thing, too, the Shadow Proclamation murdered her in front of me _and Arianna._" His eyes darkened at the memory.

The Doctor was horrified. "Show me!" he demanded. They turned to face one another, took each other's shoulders, and touched foreheads. After several minutes they separated and both sat back against the couch, leaning their heads back over the edge to look up at the ceiling, and digested each other's adventures. Simultaneously they cracked up and turned their heads to look over at each other.

"And here I was, thinking that I gave you two the chance to live a nice, quiet, simply fantastic life together, and you're getting in more trouble than ever!" the Doctor laughed.

"Yep-p, the more things change, the more they remain the same, hmmm?" The two sat and chuckled for a few more minutes before Jon decided to broach a delicate subject.

"So," Jon began, turning toward the Doctor and throwing his arm over the back of the couch, "I have a suggestion regarding River."

"I'm all ears."

"We've always wondered how she seemed to know this face so well. It really seemed like she'd seen it before, not just from a picture, but like she _knew_ us."

"Yeah, what exactly are you getting at?" the Doctor asked,

"Let me ask her to come 'shopping' with me. There's some technology here I need to pick up and take back to the other universe with me so I can adapt it to that universe's energy pattern and start developing Looms and other neat things – like a way to traverse the universes safely again. It'll give her a chance to get to know me."

The Doctor considered it. "What about Rose? How will she feel about it?"

"Weeelll... She could travel with you a bit. Perhaps visit some old friends before going home with me? You do need to take Jack back to Earth, so..."

"Let me think about it."


	4. CHO Chapter 3

CHOChapter3

Rose paced back and forth in Lourdes, her stomach in knots. She both anticipated and dreaded seeing the Doctor again. It had been about an hour since she had taken Lourdes into the core of the Dalek ship, to its main power banks, and had started a harmonic feedback loop which in turn started a chain reaction which destroyed the ship. She knew that the other TARDIS had made it out safely and everyone was OK, Lourdes had informed her of that, but still she was a bundle of nerves. She set Lourdes down on Barcelona, on a hill above the world's capital city, but didn't exit her ship. Lourdes hummed gently in her mind, trying her best to soothe her. Rose patted a coral strut affectionately.

"Thank you, Sweetheart, I know you're puzzled. It's just – I dunno how to explain it. I'm so anxious to see him again, I never stopped worrying about him. I know I shouldn't, but I do. At the same time, how different is he gonna be? Is he gonna act like a stranger? Or is he gonna be upset because we came back? I know he still cares, and so do I. Will it hurt him to see me again? I just wish I knew, I wish I had a hint, so I can be prepared for – whatever." She heaved a great sigh and resumed pacing.

The TARDIS materialized next to her daughter, who had taken the form of a rocky outcropping of the hillside. Everyone poured out, including Rory, who was feeling much better, if still pretty tender. They looked about, Jon felt Lourdes' hum in his mind.

"I'll let Rose know we're here,"he said, heading for the outcropping. Snapping his fingers, Lourdes' door opened and he stepped in. Amy and Rory stared after him with wide eyes.

"That is _so cool!_" Amy exclaimed.

The Doctor shrugged. "Just a chameleon circuit that works. I like my blue box, myself."

Jon walked up to the console while Rose stood waiting for him. He could see by her smile that she was nervous. "What's the matter, luv?" he asked, taking her into his arms. As she laid her head against his shoulder, she sighed,

"I'm just feeling very – mixed up right now. How is he? Is he glad we're here? How – different – is he?"

"He's fine, of course he's glad we're here, and he's a grumpy old man in a young man's body. He's also a bit mad. So, not so different. And he's definitely looking forward to seeing you."

"He is?"

"Yep-p! Why don't I go tell him to come on in. I'm sure he's _dying_ to take Lourdes for a test-drive. You two can run off and have some time alone to get re-acquainted."

Rose pulled back and looked up at Jon, her brow furrowed. "That's OK with you, you're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," Jon reassured her, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm not going to be jealous of myself, if that's what you're thinking. You two need to talk, and I'm sure you don't want the whole lot of us hangin' 'round while you're trying to do that." He kissed her tenderly. "Besides," he added, "I know you're coming home with _me_."

"Quite right, too." Rose grinned.

Jon stepped out of Lourdes and gestured with his thumb over his shoulder as he walked to the Doctor. "She's waiting for you, go on in."

The Doctor started toward Lourdes, and Amy went as if to follow.

"Not you, Pond, none of us, just the Doctor." Jon said firmly.

The Doctor stopped in his tracks. "Why not anyone else?" he asked, turning around.

Jon stood, rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his eyes. Then he turned to the Doctor. "Oh, I dunno – maybe because she'd like to talk to you _privately?_" Like the way you wanted to talk to _me_ privately?"

"Oh, right, of course. Well, I'll just get on with it then."

As the Doctor walked to Lourdes, he felt his hearts start pounding. Truth be told, he was nervous about seeing Rose again. Silly as it was, a Time Lord shouldn't be nervous about anything after all, he had to admit to himself that he was feeling some trepidation. On one hand, he couldn't wait to see her again. On the other hand, what if she had changed a lot since they'd last encountered one another? She'd become a mother, a Time Lady, and a leader of her people. What if she'd gotten - well, _bossy_? Worst of all, what if she didn't like him like this? Then he chided himself. What difference would it make if she didn't like him like this? She was Jon's wife, not his. It simply wasn't any of his concern anymore... but this is _Rose_, his hearts reminded him.

He walked in Lourdes' open door and smiled immediately. Her interior looked just like her mother's used to. He was still grinning and admiring her struts as he approached the console.

"Jon bonded her with me when he planted her. So she took my memories of what her mum looked like and grew that way." He looked over to see Rose smiling shyly at him from the other side of the console.

"Splendid!" he smiled back, then looked down and started fiddling with something on the console. An awkward silence passed between them as Rose also found something to fiddle with. "So, uh – Jon and I exchanged memories," he began, not knowing what else to say.

"Mmm," Rose made an approving noise. "So you're all caught up with us, then. Good." Another awkward pause.

"Rose,"

"Doctor,"

They both began to speak at the same time, and stopped abruptly, each wanting the other to go first. The Doctor smiled and said chivalrously, "Time Ladies first," and gave a little bow.

Rose grinned wryly at his convenient use of chivalry and walked around to his side of the console. "It's _so_ good to see you again, you look great," she said as she brushed his unruly hair from his forehead. "Love the bow tie," she added, straightening it, even though it didn't need it.

"Thank you," he said sincerely and he took her in his arms and hugged her. As they rocked back and forth, drinking in the scent and feel of each other, both of them felt tears of joy coming.

"I still love you, you know," she said into his shoulder.

"Doesn't need sayin'," he joked back lightly.

They broke apart somewhat, and both thumbed the tears off each other's cheeks.

"I am going to say it, though, just this once. I do love you, Rose Tyler. But I'm with River now." He gently cupped her face in both hands as he said it, and looked deep into her golden brown eyes.

"S'alright, I know she's your future, and I love Jon more than I can say. I'm just glad we finally get to clear the air between us properly." She looked back into his soft blue-grey eyes and smiled.

"It's been a long time in coming," he agreed. "So," he continued, gesturing with his head toward the door, "want to finally see Barcelona?"

"Yeah, but not just yet. There's somewhere I want to take you first." Rose answered.

"Where's that?" he asked.

"I want to take you to see your daughter."

His breath caught in his throat. "Rose, I don't think that's a good idea!"

"It's perfectly safe," she assured him. "We'll go there the same way Jon and I got here – we go back in time to when I was traveling here by way of the dimension cannon. It took me _weeks_ back then to find the right time-lines, and there are plenty of cracks we can slip through without hurting anything. Then we go forward to after Jon and I dropped the kids off with my parents. It would mean so much to me, and to Arianna. _Please_ do this!"

He gazed at her, considering. "Alright, just this once then. But we're not staying long!" he said sternly, wagging his finger at her. "We're going to have a quick visit, then you're bringing me right back here. This universe is my destiny!"

"Fantastic!" Her face lit up, dazzling in its joy. His hearts contracted, he'd almost forgotten what that

smile did to him.

"Right then," he turned quickly and walked back to the other side of the console and started firing up the rotor. "Off we go!"

As Lourdes dematerialized, Jon turned to the rest of them. "So, why don't you lot give Jack and me a tour of the TARDIS? I'd like to see more of the new remodeling job."

When Lourdes materialized back in Jackie's back yard, she again took on the form of a spruce. It was morning, the day after Jon and Rose had left, and Arianna, Alia, and Tony, and Jackie with little Peter in her arms, ran out to meet them. When Rose came out with the Doctor following her, everyone froze, taken aback. Jackie remembered his face from the transdimensional delivery box he had sent years ago, and was a bit stunned.

"_Doctor?_" she asked.

"Yes, Jackie, it's me, the 'original'. Whaddaya think?" He preened his hair a bit, mugged, and turned around slowly.

Jackie, for one of the few times in her life, didn't know what to say. "Wonderful! I'll just finish getting little Peter his breakfast!" She turned and went back into the kitchen.

Rose giggled a bit. "She sure wasn't expecting you!" She turned to laugh with the Doctor, but his attention was locked on the little girl with the golden eyes. "_Arianna_," he breathed.

"_Daddy!_" She ran and flung herself into his arms, and he whirled her around, laughing. Alia and Tony looked mystified.

"Arianna has two daddies," Rose tried to explain, then giggled as the implications of that statement occured to her. Then she had to blink back tears as she beheld the two hugging.

"Daddy, besides my cousin Tony, I have a sister and a brother now," Arianna told him, breathlessly.

"You don't say!" he beamed at her. "Well, you must introduce me to them!"

Arianna solemnly introduced him to Alia, then to Tony, as her "other father", Rose helpfully telling them the Doctor was Jon's brother. That seemed to satisfy the other children, whose minds quickly went to recreation.

"Do you know how to play football?" Tony asked him, very seriously. "I'm on a team now, and I could use some practice."

"Are you kidding? I _love_ playing football!" the Doctor enthused. The children dragged him down to Tony's small practice field, complete with nets, and soon the Doctor was playing with them, rolling in the grass, and having a thoroughly wonderful time.

Jackie came outside with little Peter and handed him to his mother, who nuzzled him lovingly. Jackie then pulled up some chairs and a table, and had Cook bring out lemonade, and she and Rose and little Peter watched the Doctor play football with the children.

"I must say, when I see him like this, it seems a pity he doesn't have a family of his own." Jackie admitted after awhile.

"I always thought so," Rose agreed.

"So why is he here, luv?" Jackie asked.

"I just wanted to give him a chance to meet his daughter," Rose replied. "I wanted him to have the chance, even if just for a short while, to get to know her."

"But Sweetie, isn't that just a little bit cruel?" Jackie asked. "I know you don't mean to be, but think about it from his point of view. He's never going to have the chance to be a real father to her, what with the life he leads. Why tease him with something he can never have?"

"But he _can_, Mum! He only _thinks_ he can't. If Jon and I can do it, so can he. He doesn't _have_ to be alone!"

"Sweetie," Jackie was trying her hardest to not be a busybody, but she felt it needed said. "You know that trouble follows him like his own shadow. How can a man like him ever raise a family? Seriously, Rose."

Rose blinked back tears at her Mum's words. Deep down in her hearts, she felt Jackie might be right. "He doesn't have to live that way, Mum," she tried to insist, but she knew the Doctor could no more give up the way he lived than she and Jon could.

The Doctor, with his superior Time Lord hearing, overheard the conversation, and it hit home. He looked around at the happy, dirty faces of the children and said, "OK you lot, time to get cleaned up. I'm certain it's almost time for lunch." The children groaned and protested as kids do, but obediently went up to the house to wash up. The Doctor walked up to where Rose and Jackie were sitting and announced, "This was wonderful, Rose, thank you, but I'm going to go aboard Lourdes and get cleaned up myself, then I think we should go after lunch."

Rose looked stricken. "So soon?" she asked.

"Yeah," he responded firmly, "I think I should leave before I change my mind. I don't belong here."

Lunch was subdued, the children chattered on mostly unaware of the tension in the room, but Arianna could feel her mother's upset, and Peter was fussy. Jackie felt somewhat responsible for her daughter's gloom, and tried to mitigate.

"Doctor, why don't you at least stay for dinner? Pete would hate to miss seeing you."

"Jackie, thank you so much, but I really don't think it's a good idea, I really have to go."

"Well then why don't I give him a call, he can come home and at least talk to you briefly before you go."

The Doctor relented. "Alright."

Jackie smiled brilliantly and left the room to phone Pete. When Jackie Tyler smiled, the Doctor thought to himself, one could see where Rose got her own brilliant smile. It was _almost_ worth putting up with the rest of her.

Pete arrived about forty minutes later, and he and the Doctor retired to Pete's office to talk. Rose declined to join them, instead staying with her Mum and catching up on the local gossip. There would be time enough to catch up on Torchwood when she and Jon returned.

Pete and the Doctor talked for over two hours. When they finally emerged, Pete came over and gave his daughter a huge hug. "I guess you two are leaving now," he said to her. Rose looked over at the Doctor and his features were set firmly in that 'don't argue with me now' way that he had.

"I guess so." She stood on tiptoe and kissed her Dad on the cheek. "See you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," Pete replied firmly. "We've got a lot to talk about."

Rose and the Doctor said the rest of their goodbyes in the back yard, he saved Arianna for last and held her for an especially long moment, and Rose could sense the love and other things passing between them. He put Arianna down, and with a final stroke of her cheek turned wordlessly and boarded Lourdes.

Rose smiled a bit weakly at her family and said, "See you all soon," and followed him.

They took Lourdes into the vortex, into the past, and through one of the cracks. Both worked silently as they guided the ship back into the future and toward Barcelona. Finally Rose broke the silence.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked quietly.

The Doctor looked surprised. "No, no, of course not. Why would you ask such a thing?"

"It's just - you seemed like you were in such a hurry to leave."

He was thoughtful for a moment, searching for the right words. "Rose Tyler," he began, "what you did for me back there was nothing short of beautiful." He looked into her eyes as he said it, and smiled. "But for me, it's just a fairy tale. I'm not that man anymore, Rose. I never will be again. You have to understand, I have a destiny, just as you and Jon have your destinies, and a family is not part of mine, not anymore."

"But it doesn't _have_ to be that way..." Rose began, feeling her eyes welling. He swiftly came around the console and took both of her hands in his and gripped them firmly, pulling her to face him.

"_Look at me!_" He ordered her. She raised her brimming eyes to his steely ones.

"Rose Tyler, you have made such a difference in my life. When I met you, I wasn't really alive, I was just existing. You made me love life again, and for that I will ever be grateful. You saved me, from myself as well as from the Daleks. I loved you so much as my ninth self, but I couldn't give you that broken man. So I remade myself into someone who could love you properly, and as fate would have it, you got to keep him. Now, I'm another man, and I've moved on. Let go of me, Rose. You and Jon have a fantastic destiny ahead of you, go and live it, and don't look back!"

"I will, I am," she whispered. "I just want you to be happy, too."

His gaze softened and he pulled her to himself. "I am," he said. "I'm as happy as one who is approaching the end of his existence can be. I've only got one or two regenerations left, I've accepted my life, I'm comfortable with it. Just let me go, Rose Tyler. Go back to your universe and bring back the Time Lords. Perhaps, in time, I'll come and live out my days amongst you. But for now my destiny is here, and yours is there."

"OK." She squeezed him tightly, then let go. "I s'pose we should get back to the others, I'm sure they want to see Barcelona, I know I do."


	5. CHO Chapter 4

CHOChapter4

Jon and Jack had gotten the full tour of the TARDIS in all her new splendor. Since Lourdes hadn't returned yet, Jon made an executive decision. "Let's go shopping!" he suggested, and everyone eagerly agreed, except Rory, who was less than excited about the idea.

"Typical male!" snorted Amy, albeit affectionately.

"Well, he does need his rest," Jon pointed out. "Rory, why don't you just rest on board the TARDIS while the rest of us go?"

"Fine by me!" Rory said, much relieved.

"Alright, planet of Shan Shen, 51st century, here we come!" Jon declared.

As the group stepped out onto the planet sans Rory, they looked about. Jon had set the TARDIS down in an alleyway in the middle of a bustling marketplace. As they walked into the street, they saw it was lined with stalls on either side, selling all sorts of things.

"Why did we come here?" frowned Amy as she took in the primitive atmosphere.

"Don't let appearances fool you, Amy," River advised her. "This planet may seem primitive, but you can get almost anything here if you know where to look."

"Alright, we'll be able to get our 'shopping' done faster if we split up. Jack, you take Amy and do what you need to do," Jon suggested, "and River and I will get what we need."

Jack offered Amy his arm and the two of them left. "So, Jack," Amy asked, "how long have you known the Doctor?"

"Nearly my entire life, but I've actually only spent a couple of years, all told, with the original, although I've also spent a couple of years with Jon."

"Tell me more!" she insisted, intrigued.

Jack told her about meeting the Doctor and Rose for the first time, about the Doctor's excitement when everyone lived, and how he could tell even back then, that the Doctor loved Rose. Between stopping at various stalls and making purchases, a couple of vortex manipulators among them, he told her the story of the Doctor and Rose, including how she wound up with Jon. He skipped over regeneration, however, instead telling Amy that Time Lords can sometimes regrow appendages, he shrugged, saying he didn't know how or why. He just didn't feel it was his place to tell her about that if the Doctor hadn't.

While Jack was making one of his purchases, a smiling native woman approached Amy. "You have red hair. I have special today for people with red hair."

Amy stifled a giggle as she tried to turn the woman down. "No, I have no money," she told her.

"No charge, no charge," the woman insisted. She handed Amy a small package, "When you have a fire, throw these crystals in. It will make beautiful colors!"

Thinking it to be fireworks, after all, Chinos are famous for them, Amy asked, "Are you sure they're safe?"

"Yes, yes, very safe, children play with them, very safe!" The woman insisted.

"Well, alright, then. Thank you very much!" Amy smiled, delighted that she would be able to surprise everyone. She tucked the small package away in her pocket.

Meanwhile, after Jack and Amy left and were well away, and Rory had gone to his bedroom to take a nap, Jon took River back onboard the TARDIS. "River, over there," Jon nodded, indicating part of the console. He adjusted some settings and then walked over to her side of the console. "Keep pumping this here, and keep this setting right here," he indicated.

"Oh fantastic, flying lessons!" she laughed.

"And I'm going to teach you a little trick the good Doctor doesn't know about," Jon grinned. "Whatever you do, don't tell him about this!"

"I won't," she promised.

After a short TARDIS flying lesson, which River showed a genuine aptitude for, they set back down on Shan Shen, Jon showing River how to land silently. Jon offered River his arm, and they strolled out together in the opposite direction that Jack and Amy had taken.

"You're much more approachable than your brother," River observed coyly.

"Yes, well, I'm a bit different than he is, I'm part human. Specifically, a human who used to be his companion, the _brilliant_ Miss Donna Noble."

"He doesn't talk much about his former companions, I'm afraid. He keeps things in his past very close to his chest, so to speak." River advised him.

"Well, in that case, allow me to tell you the story of Donna Noble."

As they picked their way through the various stands offering all sorts of food and the odd, assorted bits of technology, Jon told River about Donna Noble, stopping only to make certain purchases along the way. Actually, the legend of Donna Noble was quite well known to River, but she'd never heard _him_ tell it. She was enchanted as he recounted their adventures, and teary-eyed as he concluded them.

"I wish I could have met her." she said.

"Well, you never know," he winked.

She gasped. "Do I?"

"Spoilers, River, spoilers," he teased.

"I'd give almost anything to have met her."

Jon bit his lip and looked the other way, feigning nonchalance. _Indeed, you do give it all_, he thought, and squeezed her hand.

They got back to the TARDIS to find Jack, Amy, and Rory sitting on a large crate full of Jack's purchases, laughing as Jack recounted one of his and Rose's adventures with the Doctor. Rory held his side painfully as he tried to stifle his laughter, which only made them all laugh harder.

"Now, now Jack, take it easy on Rory, the poor man is still healing!" Jon laughed at seeing Rory's pained expression. "Anyway, we've been gone long enough, time to get back to Barcelona, the Doctor will be wondering where me made off to with his ship!" He leaped to the console and started flipping switches and setting dials.

As the Doctor and Rose left Lourdes they were greeted by an empty meadow.

"Where is the TARDIS?" Rose wondered.

"I'm pretty sure everyone went shopping without us," the Doctor said, bemused.

"Great!" Rose said without much conviction. "So, what do we do while we're waiting for them?"

"Weelll... why not go for a walk?" The Doctor held out his hand. "Might as well check out the native flora and fauna while we're waiting." Rose shrugged and took his hand, and they walked up the hill, away from the city.

While they walked, Rose considered whether she was going to ask the Doctor a question that had always been on her mind, ever since she and Jon had been dropped off in the parallel universe. She had almost decided not to ask, since some things were probably best left unsaid between them, when the Doctor cleared his throat.

"Rose, I know you very well, and I can tell you're thinking very hard about something, what is it?"

"I don't know if I really should ask, I'm not sure I really want to know the answer."

"This might be your last chance to ask, Rose. Take advantage of it, let's clear the air once and for all between us."

"Alright," she conceded. "Tell me something, Doctor. If Jon had not been created, and we had somehow still defeated the Daleks, would you still have stranded me on that other Earth?"

The Doctor spied a log along the trail that looked inviting, and he pulled her over to it, each straddled it, facing each other. He looked her in the eye, and stated simply, "Yes."

Rose was stunned, and looked it. "So," she said carefully, "after everything I went through to get back to you, after everything I did, even fixing the timelines that were corrupted by the Time Beetle so you lived, you'd still have stranded me there?"

"Yes."

"_Why?_"

"Because," the Doctor said, "Rose, it was time. Your time. You needed to move on and have a chance to live a normal life, and you never would have if you'd stayed with me. Besides, you were becoming a liabilty."

Rose's eyes got huge. "A _liability?_ How?" she demanded.

"Rose, I can't afford to have anyone that close to me. It endangers them, and it endangers me. I do stupid things, like running blindly down the street towards them without checking for Daleks when I know they're about."

Rose swallowed. That hit home. That hurt. Because it was _true_.

"I see. And River? _She_ isn't a liability?" She immediately wished she hadn't said that.

His eyes went dark. "That's different. I can't help it, she's part of my personal time line." He looked down and she could see pain in his expression.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, Doctor. I'm so sorry. I know what happens to her," Rose said softly, taking his hand. "How do you stand it?" She reached forward and stroked his cheek. He allowed the caress, biting his lip and staring down at he log they were sitting on.

"I just try not to think about it too much. You know," he said bitterly, "She's probably the worst companion ever. Seriously Rose, even more jeopardy-friendly than _you_. She's more impulsive, she's wildly ambitious, and apparently she's even committed murder. You know what else?" He looked up and met Rose's eyes, shaking his head, tears spilling. "She's also warm, brave, and incredibly generous. Sometimes I think the worse you companions behave, the more I love you."

Rose moved forward on the log and took him in her arms. She held him tightly, giving him what comfort she could. They sat there for several minutes, then she shyly kissed his cheek. He kissed hers back. Slowly she kissed him on the lips. He allowed it, then responded. He'd never kissed her with these lips. He savoured memories of their first kiss ever, the reward he had allowed his ninth self for what he had been about to do - destroying himself to remove the Bad Wolf from her, to save her. Then there was the kiss between his tenth self and Cassandra, which had left him squeakily breathless. But this kiss was different. She was cooler, and not just because of her new (to him, anyway) Time Lord biology, he thought. This was pity. He didn't want her pity. This was a mistake.

He pushed her away brusquely and glared at her. Wordlessly he stood up and stomped off, back in the direction they had come. Rose sat there for a moment, stunned. What had she done?

"Doctor!" She called, "_Wait!_" He paid no attention and marched on without her. She got up and started after him slowly. He couldn't exactly go anywhere, Lourdes wouldn't leave without her.

As the Doctor walked back to the meadow, his TARDIS materialised and everyone poured out.

"Hello, Sweetie!" River greeted him, smiling like the cat who had swallowed the canary.

"Hello," he said sourly, hands in pockets.

"Oooh, it's Mister Grumpy Face again." Amy observed.

"What's wrong?" Jon asked, thinking the Doctor was probably irate about him taking the TARDIS. At that moment, Rose came down the hill.

"_YOU_," the Doctor glared at Jon, "should tell your wife to please keep her lips to herself!"

Everyone's jaws dropped and Rory, and Jack suddenly found the forest to be fascinating as they exhanged glances, turned their backs and walked off together, Rory grabbing Amy's hand and dragging her along with them. Having stunned the rest of the group, most especially Rose who froze with her mouth open looking equally guilty, shocked, and hurt, the Doctor stomped off toward the TARDIS.

"And you know what, Rose?" River recovered her composure and spoke loudly to his retreating back, ensuring that everyone heard her, "he would have been _crushed_ if you hadn't at least _tried!_"

The Doctor did not respond except to stomp into the TARDIS and slam the door behind him.

River strode quickly over to Rose, putting her hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "Don't worry," River assured her, "I know that man, and how impossible he is. I don't believe for one minute that you did anything wrong."

"_Thank you!_" said Rose gratefully, and River hugged her. Rose looked over River's shoulder at Jon, who had a look of resignation on his face.

"I think I'll join the others in getting us some firewood," he said shortly, and strode off.

Rose's eyes threatened to spill over once again.

"Don't worry, Rose. I don't think he's mad at you." River assured her, letting her go and taking her hand. "Why don't you take me on a tour of your ship? Jon tells me it looks just like the Doctor's TARDIS used to. I never got to see her before."


	6. CHO Chapter 5

CHOChapter5

Rose showed River around Lourdes. As she did, she felt Lourdes' unmistakable approval. "She likes you," Rose smiled as she told River, who thoughtfully stroked a strut.

"She's a lovely ship," River smiled. "Would you like a tour of her mother? There's something there I think you should see."

"I already was inside her, I saw the console room and the med bay," Rose shrugged. "She's quite beautiful, I like the way she looks now."

"But there is something else you should see," River gently insisted. "Come on."

"But I don't think the Doctor particularly wants to see me." Rose said doubtfully.

"Oh, don't let him concern you," River said dismissively. "He's probably buried in some book in the library. That's what he does when he's agitated and there's nothing to repair."

As they walked over to the TARDIS they saw the others building a campfire. The Doctor was notable by his absence, and Jon was engaged with Jack in a discussion of the proper configuration of the firewood. None of them took notice of the two women. They entered the TARDIS and sure enough, there was no sign of the Doctor. Rose followed as River walked up the other set of stairs that led away from the console room, and down a passageway. There, much to Rose's surprise, was a door, right where it should be, with the familiar inscription, '_Rose'_. She stood and stared at it.

"Go on, go in," urged River.

As if everything were happening in slow motion, Rose found herself reaching for the door handle, twisting it, feeling the latch release, and opening the door to her room. _Her room_. She felt one corner of her mouth turn up in a wry smile. It was the room of a typical young adult female human. A bit slovenly, but not too much so. Everything was just as she'd left it.

"Even after all this time, he could never bring himself to jettison it," River observed.

Rose saw one of her backpacks sitting on the floor, and she walked over and picked it up, stuffing some pictures of her Mum, a bottle of her favorite perfume, and other mementos of her former life inside it. She looked around one more time, then they left the room. Closing the door, she said to River, "Tell him to let it go. There's no reason to keep any of it anymore. And thank you, River." With that, she left the TARDIS. River watched her leave, then turned and went into her own room for the night.

On her way back to Lourdes, Rose paused. Jon, Jack, Amy, and Rory were sitting around the fire toasting marshmallows and talking in low tones. As she approached them, she was amused to find Jack was telling a ghost story. It brought back bittersweet memories of time as a kid once spent at church summer camp. She knelt next to Jon and whispered in his ear,

"I'm ready to go when you are."

Jon whispered back, "Why don't you sit down? We're making s'mores. We can leave anytime."

She sighed. She really wasn't in the mood for this, but... "Oh, alright."

Jack finished his story with a creepy florish, and everyone jumped, even Rose.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Amy exclaimed. "I've got fireworks!"

"Fireworks? That's brilliant! Where'd you get them?" Jon asked.

As Amy took her package out, she said, "A woman at market gave them to me, She said they were free because I have red hair." She giggled as she threw the package on the fire. Even as she did so, a memory surfaced in Jon's mind.

"AMY, _NOooo...!_"

The package hit the flames even as Jon's cry echoed through the woods. It burst into a spectacular display of lights, which sparkled as they settled upon the campers. They settled first on Rose, then one by one, Rose, Jon, and Jack suddenly slumped, out cold. Amy and Rory stared at each other, then rushed to try to wake them. Frantically they first patted them, then shook them, then slapped them, to no avail.

"Amy, go get the Doctor!" Rory urged.

Amy ran into the TARDIS. "DOCTOR!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "_DOCTOR!_"

The Doctor emerged from the passageway leading to the library. "What is it, Pond?" he asked, rather impatiently.

"Something's happened to Jon and Jack and Rose, they've passed out and we can't wake them!"

A frown of concern replaced the impatient one he'd been wearing. "Tell me exactly what happened!" he ordered as he stepped up his pace and followed Amy out the door.

"I just threw a package of fireworks on the fire, these lovely lights burst all over, then when they settled, they all passed out."

"Where did you get the fireworks from?" the Doctor asked as they hurried over to the prone victims.

"A lady at market gave them to me."

"Gave them to you?" This immediately gave him alarm, no one on Shen Shan gave anything away.

"Yeah, she said it was free because I have red hair."

The Doctor was aghast at this. "Oh no, Amy, oh no, no, no... you should _never_ take anything from strangers, didn't your parents ever tell you that?" By this time they had reached them and Amy stopped, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, glaring at him.

The Doctor quickly scanned Rose's limp form, looked in her eyes, and felt her pulses, then moved onto the others. He finally stood up and sighed.

"Doctor, what's wrong with them?" Amy asked anxiously, peering around his shoulder to get a better look at the readings from his sonic.

"Amy, do you remember the Psychic Pollen from the Candle Meadows of Karass Don Slava?"

"You meant the stuff that gave us those horrible dreams with the Dream Lord?" Amy asked.

"Exactly! The stuff that market lady gave you, Amy, is very similar. They're dreaming. We won't be able to wake them up, they're going to have to find their way out by themselves. We _can_ take them on board the TARDIS and make them more comfortable, however."

"But why aren't we affected, Doctor?" Rory frowned.

"You're immune. We conquered the original pollen, so this stuff has no hold over you."

"I don't understand, do they do this to all strangers?" Amy asked.

"No." the Doctor said darkly. "They don't. This was no chance encounter. Whoever did this knew you were with _me_. We should get them aboard the TARDIS as soon as possible!"

Amy stood guard as one by one, the Doctor and Rory picked the sleeping victims up and carried them into the TARDIS med bay.

"Now," he announced, "we wait."


	7. CHO Chapter 6

CHOChapter6

Rose came to slowly, and stood up just in time to see the TARDIS dematerialise. She stared in disbelief. It _couldn't_ be! She looked around. She was on a cold, familiar beach. _Dårlig Ulv-Stranden_. She heard Jon groan behind her, getting to his feet. She turned around to make sure he was alright, and saw Jack still sprawled in the sand a few meters beyond. Jon staggered over to her.

"Do you feel when we are?"

"Yeah."

They were just barely Industrial Revolution. No advanced technology. No hopes of escape. They would just have to sit things out for who-knows-how-long until someone rescued them, or an alien visit gave them a trip off-world to somewhere - anywhere - where they could develop time-travel technology, or until they ran into the Doctor again. They looked at in each other in despair as they heard Jack stir.

"_Why?_" Jon asked her.

"I don't know, Jon! One minute 'e's askin' me to open up to 'im, 'clear the air' 'e said, and we did, and next thing I know 'e's all angry and tellin' you I made a pass at 'im! And I didn't! I did kiss 'im, but I was comforting 'im over River, I wasn't tryin' anything, honest!" In her anxiety, Rose had slipped into her native London accent, and for a few moments, Jon was transported back in time to when he'd first met the teenage Rose. He grimaced at the bittersweet memory, and pulled her to him.

"Don't worry, I wasn't upset with you, I was upset with him. He should know better than to get this upset with you, it just doesn't make any _sense_," he sighed as he held her.

"Jon, _he_ doesn't make any sense." Rose responded bitterly.

"Where the hell are we?" Jack muttered as he stumbled over to them. "This is either the stupidest dream I've ever had, or the very worst hangover ever, and I don't _get_ hung-over."

Jon took out his sonic and scanned the area. "It appears to be real enough, we're in the alternate universe, Earth, Norway - why do we always seem to wind up in Norway?" He looked at Roser quizzically. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Probably because it's the last place I ever wanted to see again. Nothing good ever happens here."

"You've been here before?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, every time the Doctor wants to say goodbye to me, it's been here," Rose frowned. "But why would he do this? Jon and I have children, and you have a future in his universe, Jack, why strand us here and now?"

"When exactly are we?" Jack asked.

"1809. The Industrial Revolution is almost underway. It's an exciting time for Earth, but not a time I

want to be stuck in. The Gunboat War is going on, and the beach is not a particularly safe place to be." Jon rubbed his neck and frowned.

"So what do we do now?"

"We wait right here for five and a half hours to see if the Doctor comes to his senses and brings us back," Rose answered. "If not, then we need to figure out how we're going to spend the next nearly two hundred years until we can hitch a ride back in the TARDIS when we come here in 2004."

Jon frowned. "I really don't like that idea, I hate the idea of crossing time lines, but it is as good of a plan as any, I suppose. The TARDIS _might_ cooperate and shield our presense from him. At any rate, if he doesn't come back for us, we'll have plenty of time to reconsider the plan."

"We'd better get comfortable, then." Jack sighed. The three walked up to the beach's rock-strewn border and found a flat boulder to sit on. "I don't supposed you've got any cushions in your pockets?"

"Why, as a matter of fact I just might!" Jon grinned. Fishing around in his coat pocket, he pulled out a plastic inflatable cushion. Popping the valve open, he blew it up and closed the valve, popping it back in. "M'Lady!" he graciously offered it to Rose, who smiled appreciatively as she accepted it and sat down.

"That's better!" she grinned. "Any snacks in there? Bottle of water maybe?"

After a couple of hours of waiting, suddenly birdsong filled the air, although looking about they couldn't find the birds. Their lids suddenly grew heavy, and they slumped over, sound asleep.

Amy stared at the Doctor in frustration. "Doctor, we can't _just wait_, we have to help them! Can't we just give them, oh, I dunno, a stimulant or something and wake them up? You've got to have something here that would work!"

"No, Amy, I can't do that. You see, because of the effect the pollen has on their brains, they wouldn't really wake up, they'd still be dreaming, except they'd be up, walking and running around and dreaming - "

"You mean like sleepwalking?" Rory interrupted.

"Precisely!" the Doctor punctuated his point with a finger to Rory's chest. Turning to Amy he continued, "Could you imagine the trouble they'd get into, running around like that? No telling what they might do. No, they'll have to work this out themselves. All we can do is watch and wait and keep them safe."

Rose, Jon, and Jack awoke inside Lourdes.

"I just had the worst nightmare," Rose groaned, rubbing her eyes and stretching. Then as she stood up, "How did I fall asleep on the floor?" she puzzled. "Weren't we just outside having s'mores?"

"Yeah, we were as a matter of fact." Jack's voice came from the other side of the console as he, too, got to his feet.

"I just had a dream that we were stranded again on Pete's World again, by none other than my brother," Jon admitted.

"That was my dream, too!" Rose exclaimed.

"Wait a minute, you two weren't by chance stranded in Norway with me, were you?" Jack was incredulous as Jon and Rose stared at him, realization dawning on all three.

"Well, it's about time you three figured something out!" a voice exclaimed out of nowhere. All three spun and looked in the direction of the voice. On the spiral staircase leading up to the wardrobe was a funny little man. He was dressed similarly to Jon, in a blue pinstripe suit and brown overcoat, but he also had a matching fedora on his head.

"Who are you!" Rose demanded, wondering silently how Lourdes could have let an intruder on board.

"You may refer to me as the Dream Lord," he said, doffing his hat with a flourish. "As you are lords of time - well, two of you are, anyway - I am the lord of dreams. I can make anything come true for you - your most cherished dream, or your worst nightmare. You just awoke from someone's nightmare. Whose, I wonder?" He winked at them and disappeared.

"Wait, I _know_ him!" Jon started, "It isn't real, none of this has been. I know what's happening to us. We're dreaming, alright, but none of our dreams will actually come to pass, no matter what we do. The Dream Lord is a liar. The Doctor has encountered him before."

"So how do we get out of this?" Jack asked.

"We have to die. If we die, we defeat the pollen that was released when Amy threw the fireworks into the fire, and we go back to reality."

"But I can't die." Jack pointed out. "Am I going to be stuck in this state forever, then?"

"You can die, Jack, you just don't stay dead. You'll be fine."

"Are you sure about that, Jon?" They whirled to find the Dream Lord lounging against a strut, this time dressed in the uniform of a British marine.

"My brother and I shared memories, I saw everything that happened during his encounter with you, I know how to defeat you!" Jon shot back.

"And how do you know _that_ wan't part of your dream?" the Dream Lord shot back. "How do you know for sure exactly when the dreams started, hmmm? Are you really willing to risk everyone's lives when you could be wrong?"

"The Doctor and his companions had to die twice to defeat you, so we'll just keep on dying until we get back to where we belong." Jon looked at Rose and she nodded her agreement almost imperceptibly as the song of birds filled the air.

They woke up on the beach again, surrounded by British marines with guns pointed at them.

"Don't move!" they were ordered by the marine's captain. They froze accordingly. The captain walked over to Jack. "You, stand up slowly, and don't try anything." Jack obligingly got to his feet as slowly and carefully as he could, and raised his hands, as did the others. At a gesture from the captain, one of the marines stepped up and frisked Jack, who couldn't resist giving a little whoop and a giggle as the marine checked his pants pockets. His hands were then tied behind his back. Each of them were searched in this manner until they stood together, hands secured behind them.

"Identify yourselves!" barked the captain.

"I'm the Doctor," began Jon.

"Doctor who?" insisted the captain.

"Dr. Jonathan Noble-Storm, not that that will help you much," Jon answered.

"Rose Tyler," supplied Rose.

"Captain Jack Harkness."

"You're an American," the captain observed. "What are you doing in Norway with two British citizens?"

"Spying." Jack stated matter-of-factly. "In fact, you should shoot the three of us right now."

"_Jack!_" Rose exclaimed incredulously.

"What? You heard what Jon said!" Jack shrugged. "I say we get it over with."

"I suppose," Jon said, gulping a bit, "he's right, we should just do it. Although I don't much fancy getting shot, it's as good a way to go as any, and we do have the means right here in front of us."

The captain shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know what kind of strangeness the three of you are up to, but you're going to the island to see Captain Selby. He can decide your fate." With that the marines marched them up the beach to a small barge with a single cannon. They were made to wade out and were helped onto the boat, and stood against the small cabin at gunpoint while the marines set out for an island off the coast which had a lighthouse.

'Anholt," observed Jon. "The Brits must have just captured it. This is a Danish gunboat we're on, 'spoils of war'."

"You know your ships," one of their guards commented. The voice sounded awfully familiar. It was the Dream Lord.

"I know my _history_," Jon corrected him. Their other guards looked at him strangely, but made no further comment. Suddenly they heard birdsong.


	8. CHO Chapter 7

CHOChapter7

River walked into the galley to get her morning cup of tea and see what the plans were for the day. She also wanted to make sure the Doctor was recovered from his foul mood before he saw Rose again. She was a bit surprised to see used cups and saucers sitting about but no people. Hearing music, she followed the sound and found herseld turning into the med bay.

"_What happened?_" she gasped as she saw the three prone fugures lying motionless on the beds, Amy and Rory asleep in their chairs, and the Doctor watching his patients while listening to Mozart.

"Psychic pollen. Amy was tricked into accepting it from someone on Shan Shen. She threw it into the fire last night. Amy and Rory are fine, they've been exposed to it before. These three obviously haven't."

"Why didn't you call me?" River asked, hurrying over to Rose's side and glancing anxiously at her vitals, which were displayed on a screen above her head.

"There's nothing you could have done," he shrugged. "They'll have to work their way out of this themselves."

River stood at Rose's side holding her hand. She leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

"What are you saying to her?" the Doctor asked.

"I simply told her to remember who she is." River replied. She got herself a chair and sat there, holding Rose's hand and thinking over and over, _Remember who you are, Rose Tyler. Remember the Bad Wolf._

Captain William Selby surveyed the three prisoners who had been brought to his headquarters on Anholt. An unlikely trio, these. A beautiful blond woman in rather odd dress of slacks, jumper, and purple leather coat; a thin man in a suit with spiky hair and a close-cropped beard, and an American in an RAF greatcoat. They had been captured on the beach, confessed to be spies, and asked to be shot. _Why would they do that?_ he wondered. The only conclusions he could come to were: 1) they had escaped from some asylum or other, or 2) they really _were _spies and had some top-secret information they were afraid he would procure, hence they wanted to be shot. He considered his options. If they were escaped mental patients, he had no obligation to them one way or another, although how they got to Norway was an explanation he'd be interested in hearing. If they were spies, they should be shot, but not before he at least tried to glean what information he could from them. Most likely, it was the woman who had what he wanted. Clearly, the men were escorting her to some location, why else would she be in Norway? He reached a decision.

"Take the men outside and execute them," he ordered. "Take the woman down to 'the hole' and leave her there. We'll see if hunger, thirst, and solitude make her a bit more cooperative."

Rose started screaming as two marines dragged her down some steps and threw her into a a dark cell lit only by a slit in the door, which was promptly shut. She threw herself against the door, begging and pleading for them not to do this, to no avail. Eventually, after she'd yelled herself hoarse and bloodied her hands pounding on the door, she slumped against it. The place in the back of her mind where she normally felt Jon was empty. They'd done it, they'd killed him.

"It's just a dream," she repeated to herself over and over until she heard the birds singing and she passed out.

Jon and Jack's vital signs plummeted. The Doctor leapt up at the alarms and eyed the screens critically. They were still alive, but barely. Only their autonomic functions were working. They must have died in the dream, now only Rose remained in it. Rory and Amy had wandered off to the galley to clean up and get some lunch, only he and River remained in the med bay. He walked over to Rose's side and took her other hand and squeezed it.

"Come on, Rose Tyler. I still believe in you. You can do this."

Rose awoke alone on Lourdes. No, not alone. The Dream Lord crouched down next to her.

"Sweet dreams?" he asked, making a move as if to brush the hair out of her face. She scrambled up and away from him.

"What do you want from me?" she demanded.

"Oh, I've been waiting for this for a long, long, time you selfish _bitch!_" he snarled, advancing on her.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I have nothing to do with you, you're the Doctor's dark side, I have nothing to do with your existence!" she insisted as she backed away from him, keeping a hand on the console.

"Oh, don't you? Are you sure about that? I've got news for you, my pretty, I'm not just the Doctor's dark side, I'm yours as well!" Suddenly he transformed into the ninth Doctor. Rose gasped as he did so. She reminded herself that this was just a dream.

"You don't fool me," she stated shakily. "You're not him, he'd never do this to me."

"Rose," the Dream Lord/Nine urged softly, "Look what you _did_ to me. Look what you did to _my ship_. I asked you to let us die, instead you ripped my ship apart, robbed it of a power you didn't deserve and should never have had, condemned Jack to a lifetime of death, and then in the future created yet another abomination, another version of me, just so you wouldn't have to let me go. Why shouldn't I do this to you? Why shouldn't you suffer for your crimes? Tell me Rose, _why?_"

"The universe needed the Doctor," she insisted. "If I hadn't done what I did, the Daleks would have taken over and enslaved everyone and everything in existence!"

The Dream Lord/Nine changed his face again, now he wore Eleven's face. Rose felt an odd feeling looking at him, like someone was trying to tell her something. He went on.

"No, that isn't why you did it, Rose. Admit it, you just couldn't let go, just like you can't now. You have to keep picking at me, keep torturing me, hugging me, kissing me, taking me to see the family I can never have. You're not even happy with having Jon and being a Time Lady yourself, re-building the Time Lord society, no that's enough for you even, you want to drag me into your life again, too. Tell me, Rose, just _who the hell_ do you think you are?"

At this Rose felt the stirring within herself. She hadn't felt it for a long time, not since that first evening on Karn when Jon had explored her mind and met the Bad Wolf. _I need you,_ she thought as she reached back into the deepest parts of her mind, mentally reaching out a hand and feeling it firmly grasped by... ?

Straightening herself up and boldly facing him as he advanced upon her, she answered him.

"_I_ am the Lady Rose Tyler of New Gallifrey," she told him, eyes glowing as she took a step toward him. "_And_ I am the Bad Wolf, and WE have had enough of _YOU!_" She grabbed him, pulling him into herself and the Bad Wolf consumed him in a burst of golden flame.

The Doctor and River both jumped back and gasped as Rose appeared to burst into golden flame. Suddenly alarms went off at Jon's and Jack's beds. They rushed to Jon as the screen indicated he was crashing. River went to go over to Jack, but the Doctor reached out and placed a restraining hand on her arm. "Don't worry about Jack, he'll come back no matter what."

"What's happening to them?" River asked urgently.

"I don't know!" the Doctor retorted, fiddling with dials on Jon's bed and getting no response.

"_My_ Doctor," they heard from Rose's bed as she sat up.

"I'm right here, Rose, but Jon needs my help right now."

"No, _not you._" The Doctor yelped in surprise as he was shoved out of the way and Rose, still glowing, bent over her prone husband and breathed into his mouth. She stood back and Jon sat up, coughing and gasping, but very much alive. Likewise, Jack sputtered back to life from his bed. Slowly the glow faded from Rose and she smiled brilliantly at her husband as she pulled him into an embrace.

"What happened?" Jon asked as soon as he'd caught his breath.

"That can wait," the Doctor said firmly. "First we need to check you lot out, you've been through hell. Then we can discuss this all over lunch. I believe Amy and Rory are getting something together."

Over their collective protests the Doctor made sure they were all recovered fully from their ordeal, then they all went to the galley where River had forewarned Amy and Rory, and between the three of them quite a nice spread had been set out. The three dreamers were famished, and for about a half an hour not much was said.

Amy finally broached the subject, her curiosity could stand it no longer. "So what happened?"

Jack and Rose both looked to Jon, who sat back, burped as quietly as he could behind his fist, and sighed.

"Short version. We woke up on the beach in Norway - yes," he said, looking at the Doctor, "_that_ beach. The TARDIS was dematerializing, and we thought you'd stranded us again." Amy and Rory exchanged glances. Jon continued, waving his hands to punctuate his narration, "We went back and forth between the beach and Lourdes. Of course I realised what was happening and explained it to these two," he indicated Jack and Rose. "It was 1809, during the Gunboat War, and of course we were picked up, by marines, who took us to their captain on the island of Anholt. We told him we were spies, hoping he'd shoot us all. Unfortunately, he had Rose dragged away somewhere and only shot the two of us."

"Yes, your vital signs dropped to next to nothing." River informed him.

"Right. Well, after being thrown into a solitary cell, I woke up again on Lourdes with the Dream Lord." Rose took up the story. She glossed over the conversation that transpired after that. "He changed his face to your Ninth self, and said some nasty things, then changed to your face, Doctor," she looked over at him. "When he changed his face to yours, I felt this odd sensation like someone was trying to tell me something," she told him. "Then, when he asked me who I thought I was, I felt the Bad Wolf again. I reached out to it, and felt someone take my hand... and I grabbed the Dream Lord, and the Bad Wolf took care of him."

"River and I were holding your hands and trying to encourage you," the Doctor told her. Then the Doctor told them about his suspicions of why Amy was given the pollen. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all that," he finished.

"I'm not." Rose stated firmly. They all looked at her, bewildered. "It was very educational for me," she admitted. "I found out things about myself, and what each of you is to me." She indicated Jon and the Doctor as she spoke.

"Jon, you are my everything. You always have been, and always will be, _my_ Doctor." The rest of the table had to avert their eyes as a look so intensely loving passed between them, it seemed an intrusion to observe. Rose broke away to look at the Doctor and got his attention by placing a hand on his arm.

"Doctor, the times I had with you will always be treasured memories for me. But that's all they are, memories. I have _my_ Doctor, and you will always be my friend, but nothing more. I'm so sorry if it seemed like I was trying to make it otherwise."

The Doctor smiled sheepishly at her. "Rose, _I'm_ the one who needs to apologise. You've made me think of a lot of things lately that I've been trying to either ignore or forget. I've done things I wish I hadn't, and I'm going to have to do things I can't avoid. But that's not your fault, none of it, and I'm sorry I lashed out at you. You were just being yourself, and you are someone I'm very proud to have as a friend."

A few moments passed as no one knew quite what to say. Then Jack spoke up.

"Shall we go see Barcelona then?"

Rose begged off. "I really need to spend some time with my husband. Would the rest of you mind if we waited another day?"

"Sounds good to me, I could use some more rest, still pretty sore and all," Rory volunteered.

"And I've got stuff to put away, myself," Jack answered.

"I can spend the extra time looking up what I have on loom and trans-universal technology for you, Jon," The Doctor decided.

"I'll help you with that," River told him.

Everyone looked at Amy. "What? Oh sure, I'll find something to do 'til tomorrow," she sighed.

"Thanks!" Rose grinned at them all, then stood up and offered Jon her hand. He stood up and took it, and they left. On the way over to Lourdes Jon asked her, "So what _really_ happened with the Dream Lord?"

As they boarded Lourdes and Rose pulled him back to their bedroom she gave him the entire story.

"So he skipped over my face entirely, hmmm? Interesting. Why do you think that is?" Jon asked her.

"I think because," Rose held onto his hand as she closed the bedroom door behind them, "He had nothing on you, you and I have shared minds, we share love, we've shared everything, there really weren't any hidden fears to latch onto with you. No fear of the unknown. Not like with your ninth self, who hid a lot of things from me, or that guy over there," she nodded toward where the TARDIS was parked outside, "who is a bit of a stranger to me now. You really _are_ my everything, Jon. All this time I've always felt a bit - torn - until today. Today, I finally got it through my thick skull just how right the Doctor was to do what he did, and how very lucky I am to have you. You are the only Doctor I will ever need. I have _no_ regrets."

They proceeded to undress and she showed him just how few regrets she had.

Afterwards, basking in the glow of their love, she remarked, "You know, what amazes me most is how incredibly patient you've always been with me." She stroked his face thoughtfully. "How did you do it? How did you put up with me, knowing I was torn between the two of you?"

Jon smiled tenderly and looked deep into her eyes, thinking. She almost thought he wouldn't answer, when he finally spoke. "You were worth it. You were my reward. I knew you would need time to let completely go of him, and that was fine with me. You have to realise, Rose, how _very_ young you are. On Gallifrey, marraige before the age of 50 was very frowned upon. It still happened, of course, but there definitely was a stigma attached to it. The reason is, it usually takes a very long time, and quite a bit if experience, before anyone truly knows their own hearts. Marraige was not something to be entered into lightly, because you were bonded to that person for life. Could you imagine having the connection that you and I share, but with someone you'd grown apart from? Could you imagine loving someone as much as we love each other, but not being able to have that bond because you were already bonded with someone else? Or how that 'someone else' would feel, knowing how _you_ felt?"

"Mmmmm... that _would_ be terrible. So, you robbed the cradle with me?" she teased.

"Weelllll... that _was_ back when we had a shorter life-span, so I thought it best not to wait." Jon pulled her to himself, crushing her mouth with his, then rolled on top of her. "And aren't you glad I didn't?" He teased, propped up on his elbows, looking down at her as his feelings on the subject became readily apparent. "Of course, if you want, we could wait until you're 50 and see if you still want me."

"No," she replied huskily, "I want you _now!_"

"Then, my Lady, you shall have me!"


	9. CHO Epilogue

CHOEpilogue

Barcelona was well worth waiting for, Rose had to admit. The climate was warm, arid, and sunny. The seven of them spent two days there, visiting everything from ancient ruins to the national zoo, which was quite fascinating. Dogs weren't the only animals on Barcelona without noses, the pachyderms in particular looked hysterical, with faces only a mother could love. "It's like someone figured out how to cross elephants with Persian cats!" Rory laughed.

Between the Doctor and Jon running their gobs, everyone else soon knew more about Barcelona than they ever wanted to. After the first day, when they ran all over the city, River suggested a day at the beach, which was enthusiastically accepted by everyone but the two Doctors.

"But we havent seen the Gothic quarter yet, the architecture is _fantastic!_" Jon objected.

"Nor have we gone to the Maritime Museum, we must go to the museum, I always go to the museum everywhere we stop, and this museum is _amazing!_" the Doctor insisted.

Eventually a compromise was reached, and they spent the morning on the beach, sunning themselves and resting their feet. Jon and the Doctor, being too restless to simply lie about, walked down the beach together discussing how to create a conduit between their universes, among other things. Jon also filled the Doctor in on Rose's entire experience with the Dream Lord. After they returned to the others, everyone retired to the coolness of the Barcelona Maritime Museum and Jon and the Doctor kept them entertained with their non-stop, competitive banter regarding the various ships and levels of technology. Then after a delicious dinner at a little native cafe, they all went on a tour of the Gothic quarter. A couple of hours later, most of them had very tired necks from looking up at the architecture of the place, and sore feet, and they returned to the hillside where their ships awaited them.

"So, is everyone ready to go?" Jon asked.

"All my things are on board the TARDIS," Jack nodded.

"I've transmitted all the research on looms and trans-universal conduits over to your ship already," the Doctor told Jon.

Jon and Rose said their goodbyes. Jon refused to say goodbye to River. "See you later," he promised. It was particularly hard to say goodbye to Jack. Rose and Jon both shared lingering kisses with him, which Rory and the Doctor had to turn their backs to, while Amy and River stared in frank admiration.

Rose saved the Doctor for last. They held each other tightly for a minute, then Rose smiled and started to turn away. The Doctor restrained her for a moment.

"Jon told me about the things the Dream Lord said to you. Rose Tyler, let me be clear. I was horrified at what you did to save me from the Daleks, but it was because I feared for your life, not for any other reason. Just so we are both absolutely clear on this, _thank you_ for saving my life. I will never forget what you did."

"I know." She smiled and walked to her husband, and they waved to everyone and boarded Lourdes.

The Doctor stood there for a moment, a bit nonplussed, then his shoulders rose and fell in a deep sigh. He smiled to himself. She'd finally let go. Now he could, too.


End file.
